Wolf's Time of Rest
by BlackCrimsonBakeneko
Summary: Conner wakes up with a bad feeling he can't shake and Wolf doesn't show up for breakfast. Takes place in Season 3 or beyond. Oneshot.


A/N… I actually started this when Season 3 was going on but I forgot about it and just found it again and finished it. This either happens in Season 3 or after, it's just that Conner has his own house with M'gann and that in Season 3 Wolf really isn't part of the team anymore, he's always sleeping, and here's my reason why.

* * *

When Conner woke up that morning, he knew something was wrong. It wasn't the grey skies that promised rain later in the day or the fact that M'gann was going to be gone for the next few days for a mission or that he was alone at the farm with Wolf and Sphere or that he still had to fix the neighbor's motorcycle. He didn't know what was causing the bad feeling in his gut but he had learned years ago to trust it as every time he got the feeling that something would go wrong so he knew not just to ignore it but to find the problem and hopefully find it before it went wrong. He climbed out of bed and did his morning routine, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, even though it was a human thing the actions relaxed him.

When he entered the kitchen, he first got Wolf's food out, a large piece of meat and placed on Wolf's mat. Even if Wolf wasn't there at the moment, Conner knew Wolf would come get it when he got hungry. He started the coffee machine, still thinking of what needed to be completed today, mission reports and the sort. As he poured his coffee into his favorite mug, he looked outside, the sky still grey but no rain in sight yet. His super hearing could hear the birds chirping in the distance. His eyes traveled over his little acreage that he called home, finding Sphere by the garage and looking for Wolf. He narrowed his eyes in worry, normally Wolf wouldn't go too far from the house, maybe he was around one of the buildings or found some wildlife to bother. But that feeling wouldn't go away, the feeling that something was wrong. He took a drink of his coffee and placed it on the counter, heading towards the back door.

As he left his house, he could smell the rain that was going to come down soon. There was a light breeze that made his short hair move gently, and the leaves on the trees gently swaying. He looked over his acreage, using his super hearing to listen for anything that might give him a hint to where Wolf was hiding. He ignored the distance traffic noise, the computer's buzz from the garage and Sphere's own electric buzz. He ignored the animal noise as they did what they did every morning, chirp and run around looking for food. Then he heard it, a faint heartbeat coming from a grove of trees on the far side of his property. He headed towards the grove, it being a few minutes' walk from the house.

As he approached his eyes widened in shock, there under the trees was a large white figure curled up in a ball, barely moving. He strained his ears to listen to the weakening heartbeat, it was so quiet, so slow he almost didn't catch it. The figure would move slightly every few seconds as it took a shallow breath and released it. It's white fur slightly moving from the wind.

"Wolf."

Wolf opened a yellow eye halfway, almost like it was taking too much energy to do even that simple task, then slowly closed it, his breaths becoming even more shallow. Conner slowly walked up to his friend and sat next to Wolf's large head and placed his hand between the white ears. "I was wondering where you went, you always come running for breakfast." Wolf's only response was to continue his shallow breathing, each one was becoming worse and took more time between each breath.

"It's okay Wolf, it's okay, I'm here," Conner whispered. He started to lightly pet Wolf's head. The mutated beast made no noise as he used what little strength, he had left to move his large head onto Conner's lap. Conner smiled sadly and continued to pet his friend's head. "We had fun throughout the years, didn't we?" The clone could have sworn Wolf nodded his head slightly, but it could have just been the wind. He stayed like that, petting Wolf's head for a while, not sure how many hours had ticked by as the wind picked up and the clouds became darker.

The tears started to fall when he felt Wolf released his last breath and went still. Conner bit his lip and he grabbed the white fur with his hand when he heard the heartbeats stop, more tears were falling on his friend. "You were one of my best friends Wolf, one of the best." He stayed there for a few seconds before the emotions slammed into him. Conner grabbed Wolf's large neck and hugged him, Wolf's limp head over his shoulder, much like how they used to hug when no one was looking. He strained his ears to listen for a heartbeat, even though he knew there wouldn't be one, there wasn't any movement that would be caused by breathing, by being alive. The only movement was the slight movement of the white fur from the wind.

Conner stayed like that, even when it started to lightly rain. The trees protecting them from the rain for now. He petted the mutant animal's back, thinking of when they first became friends, when Wolf was a member of the team. Thinking of all the memories they shared throughout the years, of the fights they won together, watching static on the TV in the mountain base before it was destroyed. To sneaking food away from the kitchen when M'gann chasing Wally for doing the exact same thing. Those were the days.

* * *

When all the soil was placed on the grave, Conner stepped back and looked over Wolf's grave. He had chosen Wolf's resting place under a large tree on the farm. Away from the house but still close enough to walk to should he ever want to visit. As a headstone Conner had grabbed a large smooth stone and carved _Wolf _into the stone with his finger. A few more tears fell down his cheeks. He looked up at the still lightly raining sky and sadly smiled, "After all these years you deserve to rest now, even though that's all you did the last few months." He let a small sad chuckle escape. "I think I know why we bonded like we did. Both of us were made to be a weapon for someone else but we had someone rescue us and show us we could do so much more. We didn't have to follow the path that was chosen for us, we got to choose." Conner stepped back, "Don't worry, I'll visit and tell you what happened on missions and anything else that was exciting. I promise." Conner patted the headstone, "Rest in peace bud."

He turned and headed back to the farm, to let the others know that Wolf had passed and maybe look through the photo album M'gann had made of the old team, pictures that had Wolf in them. To look back at the memories they had together and cherish them.

* * *

A mountain lion sat on the small hill looking at the human walk towards the building. She never understood humans and their ways but she had other things to worry about, like her new cub. She turned back towards her den when she knew the human had left the area and entered. There, right where she left him was her newborn son, only an hour old. His fur unnaturally a light golden white, almost pure white in color. She started to clean the small creature, her mother instincts kicking in. She paused as something yellow caught her gaze**,** she looked down at her cub and found that he was staring back, his unnaturally yellow eyes were staring at her and they made her feel so young. The new mother blinked, then curled up around on her cub. She realized that her cub's eyes were special, her cub was special. The soul in her cub's body was old and wise. He must have been something special in his past life, the mother just knew it.


End file.
